UNC football shuts down ECU 42-17

Da’Norris Searcy couldn’t have chosen a better a time to make a play.

With his team trailing by seven to visiting East Carolina in the second quarter, the North Carolina safety watched the eyes of ECU’s quarterback Dominique Davis, reacted and took his first interception of the season back 46 yards for the tying score.

“My eyes got big. First I checked over my shoulder and didn’t see anybody,” said Searcy, who missed the team’s first three games while his eligibility was being determined. “And then I saw No. 17 and thought, ‘There ain’t no way you keeping me from getting into this end zone.’”

The touchdown took pressure off North Carolina’s stalling offense, which had to punt three times during the second quarter alone.

“It was a huge turnaround for us,” quarterback T.J. Yates said. “We were struggling on offense and we had to punt them the ball and Da’Norris kind of turned the game around.”

And the game did turn around. After halftime, Yates and the offense found a rhythm and rode spectacular performances from running backs Shaun Draughn and Johnny White to a 42-17 victory.

Both White and Draughn eclipsed the 100-yard mark of rushing yards, and both almost did it in the second half alone.

“Our game plan was to come in here and run the ball on them a whole lot,” Yates said. “At halftime we didn’t panic. We knew we were going to stick to it and keep grinding it and eventually they kind of gave up.”

North Carolina’s offense was truly a tale of two halves. The first quarter indicated that it could be a big game for Yates as the senior threw for 86 yards during the first 15 minutes, including a 25-yard touchdown strike to Jheranie Boyd that got the Tar Heels on the board. But that would be the only score for the offense, which finished the half with just 41 rushing yards.

“We never got into any rhythm in the first half and that was one of the things we talked about at halftime,” coach Butch Davis said. “We have got to give our offensive line and running backs an opportunity to get into the flow of the game.”

White and Draughn found their own flow, finishing with 140 and 137 yards, respectively.

Whatever success the running game had in the second half, the defense replicated on the other side of the ball.

East Carolina (2-2) entered the game with one of the top scoring offenses in the country, scoring 51, 49 and 27 points in its three games prior to Saturday. But after giving up touchdowns on consecutive ECU drives, the Tar Heel defense held the Pirates’ spread offense to just a field goal for the next 44 minutes.

The Tar Heels (2-2) have limited three of their four opponents this year to a combined six points in the second half.

Davis said he thinks the defense’s success is due in large part to halftime adjustments made by the coaches.

“There’s some growing up, they have to learn what to do,” Davis said. “The good news is that our coaches are helping them learn some things at halftime that are helping them and they are being very coachable.”

The return of Searcy to the secondary was a welcome sight for everyone in blue, but especially for a green secondary.

“Everybody fed off his energy,” Draughn said. “For him to make to plays that he did and to get him back in the return game and on defense, that helped out a lot.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.